Malcolm Cameron (April 25, 1808 – June 1, 1876) was a Canadian businessman and politician.

Early life

He was born at

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, ; ) is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada () was a British colonization of the Americas, British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence established in 1791 and abolished in 1841. It covered the southern portion o ...

in 1808 and grew up in

Lanark County Lanark County is a county and Census divisions of Canada, census division located in the Canadian province of Ontario. Its county seat is Perth, Ontario, Perth, which was first settled in 1816Brown, Howard Morton, 1984. Lanark Legacy, Nineteenth ...

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...

. At the age of 15, he found work in the

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

area, but later returned to

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

to complete his schooling.

Business career

In 1828, Cameron became a merchant in the Perth area. The year before, he had set up a general store at Port Sarnia (later

Sarnia Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population of 72,047, and is the largest city on Lake Huron. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes, ...

) and, in 1837, he moved there. In the same year, he served with Allan Napier MacNab during the

Upper Canada Rebellion The Upper Canada Rebellion was an insurrection against the Oligarchy, oligarchic government of the British colony of Upper Canada (present-day Ontario) in December 1837. While public grievances had existed for years, it was the Lower Canada Rebe ...

. He also set up mills in the Port Sarnia area, became involved in transporting goods and established a business cutting and selling timber.

Political career

In 1836, he was elected to the 13th Parliament of Upper Canada representing

as a moderate Reformer. Upon the formation of the

Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...

by the union of

and

, he was elected to the first Parliament of the Province of Canada, again representing

Lanark Lanark ( ; ; ) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton. The town lies on the River Clyde, at its confluence with Mouse Water. In 2016, the town had a populatio ...

. He originally opposed

Robert Baldwin Robert Baldwin (May 12, 1804 – December 9, 1858) was an Upper Canadian lawyer and politician who with his political partner Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine of Lower Canada, led the first responsible government ministry in the Province of Canada. ...

,Paul G. Cornell, ''Alignment of Political Groups in Canada, 1841-67'' (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1962; reprinted in paperback 2015), pp. 93-97. he supported his government in 1842 and was given the post of inspector of revenue. He resigned in 1843 because he could not support the government bill that moved the capital to

. He continued to represent Lanark in the Legislative Assembly until 1847. In 1847, he was elected in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

and, in 1848, was chosen to be assistant commissioner of public works, resigning in 1849. Cameron began to align himself with the Clear Grits. He pressed for the abolition of the clergy reserves and pushed for reciprocity in trade with the United States. In 1851, he was elected as an independent in

Huron Huron may refer to: Native American ethnography * Huron people, who have been called Wyandotte, Wyandot, Wendat and Quendat * Huron language, an Iroquoian language * Huron-Wendat Nation, or Huron-Wendat First Nation, or Nation Huronne-Wendat * N ...

. He also supported Arthur Rankin in Kent against

George Brown George Brown may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George Loring Brown (1814–1889), American landscape painter * George Douglas Brown (1869–1902), Scottish novelist * George Williams Brown (1894–1963), Canadian historian and editor * Ge ...

in a bitter campaign, although Brown won easily. He was given a post in the government in 1852 and, in 1853, became appointed

Postmaster General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. History The practice of having a government official ...

. This also meant that he served on the Board of Railway Commissioners and he represented the government on the board of the

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; ) was a Rail transport, railway system that operated in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the List of states and territories of the United States, American sta ...

. In 1854, Cameron ran in both South Lanark and Lambton, but was elected in neither. He was elected to the 6th Parliament of the Province of Canada as an independent representing Lambton; he defeated the Reform candidate Hope Fleming Mackenzie, the brother of Alexander Mackenzie. In 1860, he was elected to the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

for St. Clair division and Hope Mackenzie won the Lambton seat in a by-election. In 1863, he was appointed

Queen's Printer The King's Printer (known as the Queen's Printer during the reign of a female monarch) is typically a bureau of the national, state, or provincial government responsible for producing official documents issued by the King-in-Council, Ministers ...

with George-Paschal Desbarats, and served until 1869. In 1874, he was elected to the

3rd Canadian Parliament The 3rd Canadian Parliament was in session from March 26, 1874, until August 17, 1878 (4 years and 144 days). The membership was set by the 1874 federal election on January 22, 1874. It was dissolved prior to the 1878 election. It was controll ...

as a Liberal candidate in the riding of Ontario South. He died at Ottawa while in office in 1876. Malcolm Colin Cameron, who he is believed to have adopted, became a Member of Parliament for Huron South and Huron West. Cameron Township in Quebec was named in his honour (since 1980 part of Bouchette, Quebec).

Electoral record

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Malcolm 1808 births 1876 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada West Members of the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Liberal Party of Canada MPs People from Perth, Ontario Canadian people of Scottish descent People from Trois-Rivières Politicians from Mauricie 19th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada